Photo credits: Infront Moto Racing
Finally, the time has come and we are going to Lommel, Belgium to one of the most iconic and toughest motocross tracks in the world for the 15th round of the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship.
Lommel is a deep sand track and offers an enormous challenge to the riders to sand surf for 35 minutes. A lot of top MXGP riders actually spend their off-seasons in Lommel, so they can train under the toughest conditions and this track gives them just that.
It is also a complete opposite of what the riders experienced last weekend at the MXGP of Czech Republic, where the track was typical hard-pack, so they will quickly need to adapt their bike setups and their riding styles, to fit the deep sand terrain.
And we, motocross fans have a lot to look forward to. This is Lucas Coenen’s home GP. Last weekend he closed the gap on Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre to only 10 points, meaning he could lift up the red plate in front of his home fans. Of course, Febvre will do everything he can to rather extend the championship lead in his benefit and Lommel statistics actually are in his favor as he’s been on the podium 6 times at this iconic venue, which is the most of any rider participating at this weekend’s event.
Lucas is on the rise. He started the season with many mistakes, costing him a lot of points, but after a rough start he put himself together and very quickly became one of the most stable riders, being very consistent and making very little mistakes. But Febvre has experience, he knows what it takes to win the championship, but he also has weight on his shoulders as he knows, that this season is his best chance of wining his second title with Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings being out of contention.
Behind the leading duo is Fantic’s Glenn Coldenhoff. He stays solid on third as Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez is 43 points behind him. Glenn is doing great this year and if he continues with his consistent rides, he will get the bronze medal at the MXGP World Championship already second time in his career. That would mark also a big milestone for Fantic Factory Team as it would be their first big prize.
Calvin Vlaanderen stands still on 5th place with a 59-point deficit to Ruben Fernandez. He is facing pressure from Andrea Bonacorsi to take over the 5th spot, but he’s known to often get good results from sand tracks, which puts the water on his windmill.
Jeffrey Herlings is back! After the collarbone injury he has sustained a couple of weeks ago, the “sand king” returns to racing.
Tim Gajser has announced that he will not participate at this weekend’s races. His exact return at the moment is still not known.
Jan Pancar certainly made a name for himself at the Czech GP. His results in the sand have so far not been as good as on the hard-pack terrains. Can he twist the plot this weekend and get top ten result?
In MX2 class the championship battle isn’t as close. KTM’s Simon Lägenfelder holds a 47-point gap over his teammate Andrea Adamo. They both performed well in Czechia as they both took race wins, but this GP is very different from last weekend. None of them is considered a sand specialist, but in reality if you are a top 2 rider in the MXGP World Championship, you are good in all terrains, because Lommel is not the only sand track on the calendar.
Although though Simon was 3rd here last year, Adamo’s record isn’t so impressive at this track. Maybe he can turn the narrative around this year and show what he has learned in a year.
All eyes will be on Husquarnas’s Kay de Wolf. If we speak about sand specialist, he certainly is considered one. Last year’s MX2 world champion didn’t have a good weekend in Czechia, so he will for sure try to make a statement, remind everyone of who he is and take all the 60 points available and if possible also take the second spot on the MX2 championship standings.
4th place at the moment belongs to KTM’s Sacha Coenen. Also his record at Lommel so far is not impressive as his best result was 9th place so far and Yamaha’s Thibault Benistant is comming from the back trying to take on that 4th spot.
Team HRC’s Valerio Lata won the EMX250 class here last year. MX2 is a different beast, but he certainly has the eyes locked in to a podium finish.
Lotte Van Drunen, current WMX red plate holder will also participate in the MX2 class.
Besides the main 2 classes, Lommel will also host the final round of the EMX125 European Championship. We will get a new champion but the battle is very close. Italian Nicolò Alvisi and France’s Mano Faure are only 6 points apart. Considering their past results it would be hard to guess who has an advantage but what’s certain, there will be big emotions on both sides as well as heartbeat pounding at the spectators and their fans.
Lommel will also host a single round of EMXOpen European Championship. As it is a single round only, it is hard to predict who would be the main contenders, but surely last year’s champion from Czechia Jakub Teresak will do all he can to defend his title, but he will face strong competition from riders like last year’s second place holder Jere Haavisto and last year’s race winner Micha-Boy de Waal.
No matter who comes out on top this weekend, we can already surely say that an exciting weekend of racing is ahead of us. Will we see a new red plate holder in MXGP class? Will Kay de Wolf make a statement?